New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern charmed the American people when she appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert this week ahead of her speech at the United Nations on Thursday.
Like us, Colbert loved baby Neve’s appearance at the United Nations earlier this week, and Jacinda’s face just lit up when she was talking about Neve and her partner. It’s enough to make anyone (okay, maybe not Peter Dutton) feel warm inside.
Colbert asked her about Trump’s speech at the UN that was greeted with laughter, and Jacinda had to give careful testimony about the incident, lest Trump punish New Zealand or insult them in a tweet or both. According to Jacinda, the first laugh in the chamber was a “spontaneous murmur amongst some… people”, and she merely observed.
In Colbert’s words, “that was very diplomatically stated”.
Most importantly to us, she described New Zealand’s relationship with Australia as a ‘friendly rivalry’, which I guess is fair, although there isn’t much to compete over: New Zealand’s government is far better than our own, if Jacinda is anything to go by.
Colbert asked about the steel and aluminium tariffs Trump introduced (from which Australia is exempt, but not New Zealand), and Jacinda said that she raised it with him during a brief encounter earlier this week. At the same time, her partner, Clarke Gayford, knocked over a flagpole, which literally sounds like something out of Veep.
Naturally, Lord of the Rings came up, as it does whenever a non-Kiwi speaks to a Kiwi, because it’s often the only thing people know about New Zealand.
Colbert said that Jacinda could technically be described as a hobbit, because she grew up near Hobbiton (which didn’t exist when she was a child, but never mind). Jacinda’s clearly a bit tired of people making that connection, however, because she told Colbert “I do find it slightly offensive that everyone thinks every New Zealander starred in either Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit.”
She then went on to say that “some of us auditioned but weren’t successful, okay?” Colbert asks if she’s serious, and she assures him that she is. So I guess Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern actually auditioned for Peter Jackson and wasn’t successful? He must be kicking himself for that mistake.
This is the kind of interview you’d never see from Scott Morrison, Malcolm Turnbull or any of Australia’s former Prime Ministers, really, except maybe Bob Hawke. None of them are human enough to have such a chill interview – even Scott Morrison’s attempts at appearing normal on Kitchen Cabinet failed miserably.
Basically, I would love it if Jacinda could quietly and casually take over running our country as well as her own, just until we find someone who’s actually a decent person. It might take a while.
You can watch the full interview here:
(Header photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)